Franz Ferdinand Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, boygenius and Raye all performed at last year’s event. A statement on social media from organisers read: “We’ve decided to take a break with Connect Music Festival in 2024 to take the time to build the next edition of the festival; to make sure it flourishes, evolves, and continues to offer wonderful experiences for fans.”The announcement comes in a year where many other grassroots festival events have also been cancelled by organisers. December saw Herefordshire’s Nozstock Hidden Valley announce that 2024 would be their final incarnation after 26 years due to “soaring costs” and financial risk”, while the fan favourite Shepton Mallet skating and music festival NASS announced that they wouldn’t be putting on an event this summer either as it was “just not economically feasible to continue”.Elsewhere, rising costs also cancelled Dumfries’ Doonhame Festival for 2024, Bluedot announced a year off for the land to “desperately” recover after being struck by heavy rain and cancellations last summer, Nottingham’s Splendour has been canned for this year due to planning delays from a financially-struggling city council, and Barn On The Farm shared that it would be taking a fallow year due to financial constraints.Standon Calling also recently announced its postponement due to a “very challenging climate”.

Alex Kapranos has celebrated the 20th anniversary of Franz Ferdinand’s debut album today (February 9).The band’s self titled debut album arrived 20 years ago today on February 9 2004 – reaching Number Three in the charts, containing the hit singles ‘Take Me Out’, ‘Michael’, ‘The Dark Of The Matinee’ and ‘This Fire’, and going on to win the Mercury Music Prize and become known as an indie classic.In a 9/10 review of the album on its release, NME said: “without doubt, this debut is an album packed with tunes that will make anyone with legs dance. At indie discos across the land their first two singles have been packing dancefloors…“This is an album as much about preening and posing as passion, that’ll have you pouring over the lyrics for an age.

Brandon Flowers has shared the moment in which The Killers met Noel Gallagher on the 2005 NME Tour along with the impact Oasis had on him.Flowers spoke to Zane Lowe on his Apple Music Radio show in celebration of their new greatest hits album, ‘Rebel Diamonds‘, which was released today (December 8). While on the show, The Killers’ frontman recounted the time in which he met the former Oasis member while on the NME tour in 2005 alongside Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs.Lowe brought up the moment in which Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr.

After forming back in 2002, Girls Aloud are back on everyone’s radar after announcing their 2024 comeback tour. Following the tragic death of band member Sarah Harding in 2021, the group revealed that their tour will “honour” Sarah’s life and it'll be a "magical" experience. From Sound Of The Underground to Biology, during the 2000s and 2010s, Girls Aloud dominated the music charts thanks to their infectious sound and spent a whopping 164 weeks in the Top 40 of the UK Official Chart.

Måneskin have released a dramatic video for their new single ‘Valentine’ – check it out below.The band have dropped the deluxe edition of their debut album ‘Rush!’ today (November 10), of which ‘Valentine’ appears as a brand new track. The deluxe, called ‘Rush! (Are You Coming?)’ takes its title from one of the five new songs the band wrote for the album, ‘Honey (Are U Coming?)‘To celebrate the arrival of their deluxe LP, Måneskin have dropped a black-and-white video for ‘Valentine’ with the band performing in a cavernous warehouse.

The O.C. is one of the defining teen dramas of the early 2000s.Created by Josh Schwartz, the series follows troubled teen Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) who is adopted by wealthy parents Sandy (Peter Gallagher) and Kirsten Cohen (Kelly Rowan) in Orange County, California.As Ryan arrives in Newport Beach, he has to adjust to life as a high-schooler in high society, alongside adoptive brother Seth (Adam Brody), Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) and Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson).The show spanned four seasons from 2003 to 2007. Other cast members include Chris Carmack, Tate Donovan, Melinda Clarke, Alan Dale and Autumn Reeser.The O.C.’s opening theme song is ‘California’ by Phantom Planet, while the score is composed by Christopher Tyng.

Franz Ferdinand‘s track ‘Jaqueline’ is running as MP to replace Mhairi Black.Jaqueline Cameron – who is currently the deputy leader of Renfrewshire Council – put her name forward to replace Black and is running to be the SNP candidate in Paisley and Renfrewshire South for the forthcoming General Election.“I was delighted to be approved as a potential candidate and am seeking the honour of representing the area in which I live,” she told The National.“I intend to fight for the needs of our communities, with great local knowledge, experience and a deep passion to address poverty and disadvantage wherever I find it. I respect the decision of Mhairi Black to stand down and share her disgust at how the Tories have ignored the needs of our communities.”No longer working on a desk, but working for her constituents instead.

Connect Music Festival is making its return to Edinburgh later this month, celebrating an array of musical talent, comedy, spoken word and wellness.

The Pretenders have announced that they will be performing a surprise set at Glastonbury Festival this weekend.The band took to their official social media accounts to announce that they will be playing Glastonbury on Saturday, June 24 at the Park Stage at 7.45pm BST. They will also be accompanied by special guests and friends.“It’s always been there for most of our lifetimes.

Måneskin have shared official footage from their sold-out show at The O2 in London this week. Check out their performance of ‘Kool Kids’ in the video above, and ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ below – exclusively on NME.As part of their long-awaited ‘Loud Kids World Tour’ in support of their third album ‘Rush!‘, the Italian former Eurovision winners took to the stage at The O2 for their biggest UK headline show to date, playing to a massive 20,000 fans.A climax of the gig came when the band continued their ritual of inviting fans on stage for their performance of album highlight ‘Kool Kids’.“It’s a song we’ve been criticised a lot for because they say we copy you fucking British,” frontman Damiano David told the crowd, adding: “It’s a little bit true!”He continued: “We’re hated all around the world for this tradition, but again we don’t give a shit”.In a four-star review of the show, NME described the moment: “Inviting a small army of fans in fishnets and leather to invade the stage, you see the cult of Måneskin manifest.“There’s no mention of Eurovision and they’ve dropped their covers of indie disco hits (including Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’) from the setlist.

Elephant Kind made a huge leap: uprooting from their home country of Indonesia to move to London for their music. It’s a move that’s the subject of their new documentary, From Indo to England, which NME is hosting exclusively here along with a chat about their new EP ‘Superblue’ and more.

Twitter‘s decision to remove its verified blue ticks.From today (April 20), the checkmark that authenticates legacy accounts on the platform will be removed from all profiles unless users opt-in to pay for Twitter Blue subscriptions.This change is “more about treating people equally”, according to Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in late 2022 for a staggering $44billion. He added that the move would “offer subscribers a way to enhance and customize their Twitter experience”.As the blue tick began to vanish from the site, various musicians, comedians, TV personalities, and other stars from across the entertainment industry tweeted their reactions.Yungblud wrote: “I ain’t verified anymore … kinda hard.” The Doncaster artist then shared a selfie in response to a fan who asked him to “prove” it was the real Dominic Harrison.

Daft Punk’s upcoming book, After Daft, have been announced – including Franz Ferdinand, CSS, Disclosure, Porter Robinson and over 50 others.The upcoming release was first announced back in 2021 and is set to provide an insight into the dance duo’s legacy, and changing landscape of the electronic music scene.Featuring commentary from some of the most highly acclaimed artists in recent years, the book will feature over 100 guest contributors, with scores of new names revealed this week.Disclosure, Franz Ferdinand and Porter Robinson have already added their input, as well as Annie Mac, Tiga, Dillon Francis and A-Trak. Numerous close friends of the electronic duo have taken part too, including industry heavyweights Alan Braxe and Panda Bear.After Daft will tell two stories: one concerning the inner workings of the band, and another that focuses on the evolution of the electronic music scene.“Encompassing 250+ hours of new conversations with some of the 21st century’s most successful and groundbreaking artists, After Daft will form an unparalleled resource for fans of dance & electronic music,” a recent statement said.Alongside the aforementioned artists, a range of industry experts are also named as contributing to the genre-spanning history.

Boygenius, Fred Again.. and Primal Scream are set to headline Connect Festival 2023 – see the line-up so far below.The three-day event is due to take place at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland between August 25-27.

Connect Music Festival has announced the acts performing at Edinburgh's Royal Highland Showgrounds this summer, with Primal Scream and Franz Ferdinand among headliners.

Scots music acts including Amy MacDonald, The Fratellis, Mogwai and Franz Ferdinand are set to star in a new BBC documentary celebrating the heritage of Glasgow's beloved Barrowland Ballroom.

National Album Day returns for its fifth edition on Saturday (October 15) with the 2022 event set to celebrate debut albums from across multiple genres and decades.Franz Ferdinand and Sam Ryder will serve as ambassadors this year alongside KSI, The Mysterines, The Staves, Jake Bugg, India Arkin and others. Around 30 classic debut albums will be reissued alongside new debut LPs to coincide with National Album Day.“What a glorious medium the album is,” Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos said in a statement.“On the most basic level it’s a bunch of songs that sound good together, but what I love is that it is a moment in time for the artist and the listener, a way to define a period of a lifetime.

Franz Ferdinand‘s performance on This Morning today (October 7).The New Zealand comedian, writer and actor played keys and guitar for the Scottish band’s rendition of ‘Take Me Out’ on Friday’s show, where the band were celebrating their 20th anniversary.During the interview segment of the band’s appearance on the show, host Alison Hammond spotted Matafeo standing with the band, and said: “You’ve got a special guest over there, is that Rose?”“I won a competition, I wrote into a magazine,” the Starstruck star and creator jokingly replied, with frontman Alex Kapranos explaining: “Julian [Corrie, Franz Ferdinand keys player] couldn’t make it today.”Dermot O’Leary then added to Matafeo: “We heard you were banned,” to which she replied: “No, I just used a different name when I entered the competition… I’m keeping a low profile.”After the performance, one fan tweeted: “Err, did they mention why Rose Matafeo was playing with Franz Ferdinand on This Morning?”“No comment,” Matafeo responded, then posting a captionless photo of herself with a guitar in the TV studio on Instagram.Watch footage of the performance here from the one hour mark and Matafeo’s responses about her appearance below. no comment https://t.co/6FCrC0E8nW— Rose Matafeo (@Rose_Matafeo) October 7, 2022“The stalking is out of control now,” comedian and Off Menu podcast co-host Ed Gamble then joked in reply, to which Matafeo responded: “I know, they’re obsessed with me.”I know, they're obsessed with me— Rose Matafeo (@Rose_Matafeo) October 7, 2022Earlier this year year, Franz Ferdinand released their new greatest hits compilation, ‘Hits To The Head’, which they were on This Morning to promote.

Weezer have shared ‘Sznz: Autumn’, the latest drop in the band’s series of seasonally-themed EPs.‘Autumn’ marks the third installation of Weezer’s themed EP series, following the release of ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’, which were released in March and June, respectively. Each EP of the four-part series — which will conclude with a forthcoming ‘Winter’ collection — corresponds to its namesake season, while also representing different eras in the band’s history.In a recent interview with The New York Times, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo described the rationale behind the themed releases, saying that “‘Spring’ was the easy-breezy side of Weezer” while ‘Summer’ “was more like ’90s alt-rock.” Speaking specifically to ‘Autumn’ in the same interview, Cuomo elaborated on the EPs’ dance rock sound.“‘Autumn’ is dance rock, which is not something we’ve traditionally been able to get away with,” Cuomo said, “It’s really hard to make it both dance and rock and Weezer.

Franz Ferdinand and Sam Ryder are among the artist ambassadors who have been announced for National Album Day 2022.The theme of the fifth annual edition of National Album Day will be Debut Albums, following previous focuses Women in Music and The 80s.“The Debut Albums theme will look to showcase a broad range of first album releases across multiple genres and decades – from debut recordings that have gone on to become classics to those that are perhaps only now being fully appreciated or which, years later, merit reappraisal,” according to a press release.National Album Day 2022 will take place on October 15, with Franz Ferdinand and Ryder being joined by KSI, The Mysterines and The Staves as ambassadors.A post shared by National Album Day (@albumdayuk)“What a glorious medium the album is,” Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos said in a statement. “On the most basic level it’s a bunch of songs that sound good together, but what I love is that it is a moment in time for the artist and the listener, a way to define a period of a lifetime.

National Album Day is coming back for a fifth year! This year the theme is debut albums. We already knew that. But now we have some ambassadors!For the uninitiated, National Album Day is the one and only day of the year where everyone in the UK listens to nothing but full LPs for 24 hours solid.

This year's National Album Day 2022 has been confirmed to celebrate the art of the debut album, and its list of artist ambassadors has been announced. 

This year's National Album Day 2022 has been confirmed to celebrate the art of the debut album, and its list of artist ambassadors has been announced. 

Franz Ferdinand‘s Alex Kapranos has shared details of a new six-part radio series.In August, Kapranos will join Absolute Radio to host a new series that will run every Sunday night at 10pm from August 7. The show will also see the singer being joined by special guests including Johnny Marr.A statement about the show said: “Alex will be bringing his encyclopedic knowledge of and eclectic taste in music to his own show, as well as anecdotes from over 20 years at the top of the UK indie music scene and insight from across the music world.“Alongside this you can expect the musician to be joined by a range of guests including Johnny Marr, The Cribs and Los Bitchos.”Speaking about the new show, Kapranos said: “I’m happy to say that Absolute Radio have invited me in to take over on Sunday nights, play songs I love, and have a bit of a chat with musicians I like.

Måneskin have spoken about their love of playing covers and riling up rock purists with their takes on pop hits.The Italian band won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 with their own song ‘Zitti e buoni’, but have had their rise to fame accelerated with the help of covers of songs including The Four Seasons’ ‘Beggin’’, The Killers’ ‘Somebody Told Me’ and Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’. A live recording of the former was released on Spotify in 2021 and recently reached one billion streams on the platform, while it has also gone viral on TikTok.Speaking to NME for the latest Big Read cover story, frontman Damiano David said the group will likely “always do covers” in their live sets. “It’s one of the coolest things you can do,” he explained.

Jimmy Kimmel has tested positive for COVID-19, once again. The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host revealed Tuesday that he still has the virus after sharing that he contracted COVID earlier this month.

two weeks after he was forced to step away from his duties beginning May 2.“I’m such a positive person, I tested positive AGAIN,” he tweeted Tuesday. “I am feeling fine — the great John @mulaney & Andy Samberg @thelonelyisland have graciously agreed to host @JimmyKimmelLive for me tomorrow.”The show host appeared virtually at the 2022 network upfronts, where he made fun of everyone from Netflix (“It feels really good to see them stoop to selling advertisements.”) to Disney (“It’s our 100th anniversary, and we are gonna celebrate that milestone like only Disney can: By milking the living sh— out of it!”). Kimmel announced May 2 that comic Mike Birbiglia would take over hosting after his first positive COVID test this month.

Muse are among the leading names on the line-up for Mallorca Live Festival 2022.Held at the Old Aquapark in the Calvià region of the Balearic island, this year’s event – which will be Mallorca Live’s fifth anniversary edition – will take place from June 24-26.Muse will headline the final night (June 26) of this year’s Mallorca Live, joining Christina Aguilera (June 25) and Spanish rapper C. Tangana (June 24) at the top of the bill.Elsewhere, the likes of Justice, Franz Ferdinand, Editors, Supergrass, Temples, Metronomy, The Blessed Madonna and Peggy Gou will also perform across the weekend.A post shared by MALLORCA LIVE FESTIVAL (@mallorcalivefes)“After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the launch of a summer concert series, the festival returns to its traditional 3-day format and is ready to offer its most international edition,” a press release adds.“Mallorca Live Festival stays true to its eclecticism and is committed to bringing together the most relevant artists of the moment, alternating genres and origins, both Spanish and international, and continuing to bet on the local Majorcan music scene.”Tickets for Mallorca Live Festival 2022 are on sale now, and you can find those and more information about this year’s event here.

Coachella to raise awareness and funds for the Ukraine relief effort.The festival is currently holding its second weekend in Indio, California, and the billboards have been put up by Matoma in collaboration with the Music Saves UA charity.Alongside video of the billboards – which are emblazoned with the slogan ‘DROP BEATS NOT BOMBS’ and feature the blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag – Matoma wrote on Instagram: “Only a few years ago, I played at a festival called Atlas Weekend in Ukraine to a beautiful crowd of people, just like those attending Coachella this year.“Those days of freedom are sadly gone for them, and now bombs rain down on their cities. These very same people from Atlas Festival have converted their nightclub to a humanitarian centre (!!!), providing supplies and care for those who need their help.He added: “This is one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen and gives me much needed hope.

Franz Ferdinand found themselves trending online after a teacher tried to use their name as a reference in a First Wold war lesson.

Deftones have announced that “with deep regret”, they are cancelling their scheduled tour dates in Ukraine and Russia for this July, amid the ongoing conflict between the two nations.“We’re hoping we’ll be able to return to play soon,” the band wrote in a statement on social media yesterday (March 29). “We hope everyone is safe.”A post shared by Deftones (@deftones)The Sacramento alt-metal band are one of many who’ve cancelled shows in both countries since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over a month ago.Tom Grennan, Green Day, Yungblud, My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro, Placebo and Russian rapper Oxxxymiron are among the acts who’ve announced cancellations in recent weeks, due to either safety concerns or in protest against the Russian government’s attack.Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions have drawn widespread condemnation across the globe, with multiple countries enacting sanctions on the country.

A social media page dedicated to finding the best bands according to voting by their followers has just named the top 100 from Scotland.

Tom Grennan has cancelled his upcoming shows in Russia and Ukraine over the ongoing conflict in the region.Posting on Twitter, Grennan made the announcement with a statement, while sharing the hashtag #StandWithUkraine. He was due to play Moscow’s Izvestia Hall on July 4 and Kyiv’s Atlas Festival on July 6.He wrote: “In light of current events, I will be cancelling my shows in Russia and Ukraine which were due to take place in Summer 2022.“My thoughts are with the brave people of Ukraine, and all those who oppose this devastating violence and seek peace.”Grennan follows a number of artists who have cancelled shows in the region in recent weeks.

Rex Orange County has scored his first UK Number One album with new LP ‘Who Cares?’.The Hampshire-born singer-songwriter (real name Alexander James O’Connor) beat off stiff competition from Swedish rockers Ghost, whose new LP ‘IMPERA’ landed at Number Two, to take the top spot.Rex Orange County’s fourth album follows on from the independently released ‘BCos U Will Never B Free’ (2015) and ‘Apricot Princess’ (2017), and the RCA released ‘Pony’ which landed at Number Five when it was released back in 2019.“Thank you to everyone who listened to ‘Who Cares?'” Rex Orange County said upon receiving the news about the album’s achievement. “I’m so happy to have an Official Number One album in the UK, where I’m from.

Rex Orange County scores his first-ever UK Number 1 album with Who Cares?, beating off tough competition from Swedish rockers Ghost.  

Franz Ferdinand have announced a North American tour following the release of their greatest hits compilation, ‘Hits To The Head’ – buy tickets here.The US leg runs from August to September with stops in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles and will mark the Scottish band’s first tour of the country since 2018. General on-sale for the tour kicks off Friday (March 18) at 10am local time.